Wi-fi Mesh technology is bringing down video deployment costs and making surveillance possible in some fairly rough neighborhoods. Contrary to some other reports, this seems to be having some effect:

"The cameras have made a difference," contends Pastor Mike Cummings, a formergang member who for nine years has been escorting students to and from JordanHigh in a program known as Safe Passage. As school lets out on a sunny Fridayafternoon, Cummings, a large man wearing a gang-neutral yellow shirt and holdinga walkie-talkie, watches over large groups of youngsters walking home on 103rdStreet. They're going either to the weathered apartment buildings at JordanDowns, barrack-like structures fitted with barred windows and satellite dishes,or to modest detached homes in the neighborhood. Several blocks from JordanHigh, Maricela Vargas is pushing a stroller with three grade-schoolers in tow."About a year ago, there was a lot more violence," she says in Spanish, pointingto what had been a dangerous area just down the street. "Now, it's calmer." (viaFastCompany)

An interview with a Chicago Police officer sheds some light on why some communities are having success with cameras and others, like San Francisco, are not:

"Someone has to watch (the footage)," said Garbauski, who runs missions once aweek. "If there were no arrests, people would say, 'There's no one watchingthis. It's just for show.' "

The San Francisco cameras installed at Newsom's request are facing scrutinybecause they have helped police make just one arrest, for an attempted murder,in more than two years. A city law, prompted by civil liberties concerns, allowspolice to request footage only after a crime occurs.

Records show that,as of Sept. 18, San Francisco inspectors had asked for footage 58 times sincethe cameras were installed in mid-2005. Chicago police said that, as of the sameday, they had used camera footage in 1,407 arrests, including at least fivehomicides, since the city began tracking data in February 2006. (viaSF Gate)

San Francisco doesn't seem to have any problem using cameras to hand out traffic infractions though.